University of the Western Cape (UWC) registered their first win of the CAF Women’s Champions League l COSAFA Qualifier after trouncing FC Ongos 3-0 in Malawi on Saturday, whereas Herentals Queens beat Green Buffaloes 1-0 to lead Group A.
Striker Maudy Mafuruse scored for the Queens of Zimbabwe in the 60th minute via a header from a left-flank corner-kick at a packed Mpira Stadium in Blantyre.
Mafuruse’s second goal of the regional qualifiers sees the coach Lazarus Magaya side leading Group A on six points and need just a draw against UWC on Monday to guarantee a semifinal place.
In the other game in the pool, UWC recovered from Thursday’s 1-0 loss Buffaloes to defeat FC Ongos.
Sibulele Holweni, Fikile Magama and Bongeka Gamede’s 20th, 31st and 56th minutes strikes put the South Africans’ semifinal qualification bid back on track.
UWC have three points whereas the Namibians remain winless hence out of the last-four race going into an academic meeting with Queens on Monday.
In noon kick-off of Saturday, Queens got a deserved reward as they dominated the match to register back-to-back wins and take their tally to six points. Buffaloes have three points.
The 2022 champions Buffaloes hosted Queens with an early semifinal qualification dream in mind.
Going into the game, coach Magaya for the Zimbabwean side maintained the starting XI that started the tournament with a 3-1 win over FC Ongos.
On the other hand, Buffaloes coach Carol Kanyemba dropped four players from the starting XI that beat UWC with Martha Banda, Agness Phiri, Judith Zulu and Bwalya Chileshe replaced by Atness Phiri, Maweta Chilenga, Lubasi Pumulo and Hellen Chanda.
However, such changes hardly improved the performance of the 2022 champions who now face a must-win FC Ongos on Monday.
The second Group A game between UWC and FC Ongos featured teams gunning for their first win of the qualifiers.
Both teams knew a loss could be a recipe for an early return home.
The South African students started the regional qualifiers with a painful 1-0 loss to Buffaloes in a game they dominated.
It was a similar case for the Namibians, FC Ongo Ladies who struggled against the Queens on Thursday.
The overall winner of the 10-day tournament will book a place at the CAF Women’s Champions League’s continental finals, joining Mamelodi Sundowns who did not participate in the qualifiers as they had already secured their finals’ slot by virtue of being African champions.
Entrance for fans to all matches in Blantyre will be FREE of charge. You can view all of the fixtures here.
If you cannot get to the stadium, you can watch all matches streamed LIVE on FIFA+.
SATURDAY’S RESULTS
Group A
Green Buffaloes 0 Herentals Queens 1 (Mafuruse 60’)
University of the Western Cape 3 (Holweni 20’pen, Magama 31′, Gamede 56′) FC Ongos 0
SUNDAY’S FIXTURES
Group B
Gaborone United vs Young Buffaloes (KO 12h00; 10h00 GMT)
UD de Lichinga vs Ascent Academy (KO 15h00; 13h00 GMT)
